Johnathan Dennison
Johnathan Dennison 'was the mayor of Swallow Hills from 2065 to 2077, one of the few liberal-minded politicians in active office in the pre-war United States. He maintained a steady grip on power in Swallow Hills throughout his 12 years in office, navigating through deals between Vault Tec for the construction of a Vault and dealing with the presence of the United United States Armed Forces in the town. Following the Great War, Johnathan Dennison was chosen as the first Overseer of Vault 45, remaining a staunch liberal even in the face of overwhelming tragedy and outrage. Biography Dennison was born in 2034 in Los Angeles, California, the son of a small, middle-class family, typical of the United States. At around his 2nd birthday, Dennison's family left Los Angeles for the tranquillity of the countryside as the cities of the West coast began to fill up with those seeking work. Swallow Hills, a growing town that had achieved a name for innovation and advancement, was the place where Dennison's family would settle, and thus where the young Dennison grew up, attending the local school, whilst his mother and father participated in the usual round of family activities throughout his childhood; trips to the zoo, enjoying the newly created Nuka Cola and buying their first Mr. Handy robot. Dennison's childhood was a serene one, desirable even by the standards of pre-war society. It was only in his later teenage years, around 2051, that Dennison finally began to experiment on the political spectrum. His days in high school were spent mostly concentrating on more academic pursuits, his cold demeanour having developed during his childhood now in full swing seeing off the worst bullying jocks and dissuading any potential friendships from other types of people in his high school. Making a name for himself as a liberal with a cold and often condescending tone in many of his debates with right-wing academics, Dennison did, admittedly, alienate a lot of the town's locals with his differing political views. In the later 2050s, the problems of resource shortages found their way into many American living rooms, with televisions broadcasting the reality of the fuel crises, be it the Resource Wars in the Middle East or the shrivelled oilfields of Texas, in the world to shocked audiences. Dennison, typically, reacted with a simple shrug and cough and returned to his academia. In early 2061, now aged 26, Dennison stood for office after being picked out for his exceptional skills in debates by the Democrat party of the US, then on a backfoot to the Republican party of the US thanks to the ongoing fuel crises and the lack of strong and forceful characters present on the left. During his lengthy campaigning for the position of mayor of the town, still brimming with resentment that he was refused the chance to run for state senator, he met his first and ultimately final romantic attraction; a 28-year-old campaigner by the name of Bridgitte. After two years of on-and-off flirtation mixed with campaigning, the final nominations were made for the election and Bridgitte agreed to marry Johnathan. The newly married couple would experience the triumph of success December 20th, 2065 when Johnathan was finally elected mayor of Swallow Hills, beating his opponent in a closely fought contest. It was almost immediately after his election that the marriage was strained by Johnathan's constant work in the mayor's office, dealing with debts incurred from the massive intake of new and often experimental technologies. Though this made the town appealing, it left a huge stain on the town's fiscal security, forcing Johnathan to work overtime and leaving Bridgitte feeling more or less forgotten. Then, in the winter of 2066, the Dennisons found themselves further taken apart from one another with the Invasion of Alaska by Chinese forces. Fear of war, whether conventional or atomic, reached the shores of the United States, bringing with it social and societal unrest. In 2067, the Vault-Tec corporation approached the town with the offer of a Vault, making sly nods to their own societal preservation program's darker side to the mayor, giving him the choice of allowing construction after almost unanimous acceptance and praise by other local politicians. Reluctantly, Johnathan accepted the offer and construction began later that year. Vault-Tec graciously gave him the role of Overseer prior, accepting both his wife and himself into the Vault. In 2074, the Vault was finally constructed, though Johnathan had his mind on other things. The US Military had made its presence known on many city streets and now stood in Swallow Hills' streets as peacekeepers, though Johnathan successfully deduced that they were there more for the protection of the Vault than the protection of the populace. The next 3 years would pass quickly, with on and off tiffs between husband and wife becoming frequent. Right up until the Great War. On October 23rd, 2077, both husband and wife were still at home when regular radio broadcasting was interrupted by panicked announcers talking about nuclear attacks on various cities in the US. Both he and his wife fled to the safety of the Vault, joined by numerous other citizens. Despite his protests, Johnathan, and his wife were both admitted ahead of others, with most being turned away at gunpoint by armed Vault-Tec security. Safely inside the shelter of the Vault, it was only a matter of minutes before the first blasts were heard, before the first blasts were felt. When the great steel door of Vault 45 sealed shut, Johnathan did not flirt with any notion that he would be out of the Vault in his lifetime. So, instead, his first actions as Overseer were against everything he usually stood for; imposing strict laws and settling in residents quickly, conscripting men and women for the security force and forcing most residents into roles they were best suited for rather than roles they most wanted. His liberal ideas held fast, but pragmatism dictated his first few months underground. Then, as the months became years, a gradual process during which he and his wife managed to reconcile most of their grievances in a modest fashion, he began to relax his grip on power, his policies ''levelling off as it were. Bridgitte and Johnathan rekindled old flames of passion that had once burned rather dimly in the suburbs of Swallow Hills, and Bridgitte gave birth to a son and a daughter, much to Johnathan's pride, though he was reserved in showing this pride. Johnathan's liberalism came through as he arranged small projects that were set up to try and manage community cohesion, namely bake sales and toy collections mixed with the odd reading club, with largely liberal works rather than vehemently patriotic works being read in the latter most and free cakes being given out in the name of charity rather than patriotism as described by the Vault guidebook for him in the former most. He held off making laws regarding marriage and sexuality, a touchy subject addressed very heavily in the Vault guidebook which insisted on mandatory marriage and procreation for all, instead leaving the choices to residents. These decisions made him neither popular nor unpopular, a stalemate not helped by his usual coldness. His hard-headed insistence on remaining true to the values he had kept above ground impressed not only his friends, but his enemies; many of whom were quite refreshed to see such a stubborn nostalgia in an age of tumultuous change. In 2098, at the age of 64, Johnathan finally retired the position, citing health concerns, and, instead of making it a hereditary role as recommended in the Vault guidebook, left the position open for voting to take place. He and his wife would spend the next few years happily married together, taking solace in each other's company in ways that they had, in their youth, been unable to. Their final years together were, as Johnathan lamented, the happiest of his life, when in 2110 Bridgitte finally passed away from advanced ageing. Lamenting her death in an uncharacteristically emotional way, Johnathan's grief would last with him, alongside the love he felt for his grandchildren born in the subterranean mass that he had had a hand in creating, until he too passed away in 2129, aged 95 years old, content with his lot in life and happy to pass on, believing that he would be reunited with his wife upon his death. A man Franklin D. Roosevelt could have been proud of. Equipment * '''Pre-War Casualwear: A pair of coffee slacks, blue shirt, and green sweater vest served as Dennison's most commonly worn attire prior to the war. Often times, Johnathan wore it simply because it was the most comfortable outfit he could gather. More often than not, his casual attire drew ire from other political figures, but Dennison's relaxed and genteel manner won him much favor. * '''Vault Jumpsuit: '''The standard Vault Jumpsuit that Dennison wore whilst in residence in the Vault, Dennison despised the garment but, due to his position, wore it out of the simple belief that it was the very least he could do to ensure that those underground in the Vault would obey any laws placed. Gallery Johnathan Dennison Vault Suit.png Category:Vault Dwellers